And he’s not wrong. I’ve always been a little averse to growing up and settling down, but I’m finding I want nothing more. After so much time spinning around not knowing what I want, I think I might have finally figured it out.

“You’re important to me too, Cade,” is what I settle on, because I know he needs to hear that. He’s homed in on my insecurities, and I’ve homed in on his.

We build each other up. We tidy one another’s loose ends. We fit so perfectly.

“Good. But, Red, I don’t think I told you to stop playing with those tits.” His voice changes, taking on a playful edge as he takes long, casual steps toward the hot tub, peeling his shirt away and dropping it on the brick patio.

“Yeah, but now you’re standing out there looking like a total snack, and I want you to come play with them instead,” I pout dramatically while my hands move again.

He chuckles and leans his chiseled forearms on the rim of the hot tub. “Fucking desperate,” he murmurs, shaking his head.

“Hey, yo—”

“Sit on the edge of the tub, baby. You told me I could watch you touch yourself while you thought about sucking my cock on the porch. And I know you’re a woman who keeps her word.”

I practically purr under that compliment. Because I am the type of woman who keeps her word. I’m fiercely loyal, and that’s something I’ve always taken pride in. I’m trustworthy and a good friend. I might not be a high achiever, but you can count on me to be there if you need to bury a body in the middle of the night.

I do as Cade says, lifting myself onto the ledge, steam swirling off my skin as I rise from the water.

“Fuck.” He holds a fist up over his mouth and stares at me like I might be his last meal. “That fucking bathing suit.”

“This one?” I ask, pulling it up tight so it squeezes my pussy in the way that drives him wild.

“You almost made me lose it that night, you know?”

“I wish you had.”

“I don’t.” He replies smoothly, and I arch a brow at him. “Don’t give me that look, Red. It wouldn’t have been the same and you know it. I wouldn’t have known you the way I do now. You would have still thought I was an asshole.”

“Who says I don’t anymore?”

He gives me his disapproving scowl. “Between then and now I’ve . . .” he trails off, glancing away for a moment, thinking carefully about the next words, “gotten to know you and come to care about you in a way I didn’t expect.”